Origins
by Alryssa
Summary: 8th Doctor. While substituting at an Irish college, the Doctor finds something more sinister behind what seems to be a random outbreak of meningitis...
1. Origins, Part 1

Notes on when/where/etc:   
Quick Notes:  
I've taken liberties with the 8th Doctor and the EDA arc... basically the Doctor is currently an amnesiac (I think that's safe enough to say without spoiling too much).   
  
There is an adult element, but it's referred to after the fact, so, if you don't like the mere _idea_ of the Doctor sleeping with someone, better run the other way now.   
  
Disclaimer: Doctor Who & TARDIS copyright Beeb, I'm not making any money from this (like I could)... the characters of Alecia and Jayne are mine. This is dedicated to a couple of people, who'll know who they are. :)  
  
Lay on, MacDuff...  
  
  
Origins  
Part One  
  
  
  
"Strange bugger, that one."  
"Hmm?"  
The young woman looked over her shoulder, swiveling slightly on her stool in the direction of her friend's nod. She had to squint in the relatively dim lighting of the pub, but then she saw who he'd been looking at. She agreed with him in principle - he looked like he'd come straight out of a rehearsal at the theatre, from his completely anachronistic cravat down to his frock coat and his (admittedly gorgeous) chestnut brown hair, that curled almost to his shoulders. He seemed to be brooding over his half of... was that water or vodka? She wasn't sure. She turned back to her friend.  
  
"He dresses oddly, Kris, but he doesn't seem odd. Just moody, maybe."   
  
Kris shook his dark head, as he wiped another glass dry.   
  
"He's been coming in here regular as clockwork, at four, and leaving at eight, for two weeks now. Sits there in the same seat every time, mooning over that mineral water of his." He glanced over again at the strange man.   
  
"He's cute," she said, following his gaze. She grinned. "But what do I know? I have no luck when it comes to men."   
  
"Probably too old for you anyway. He must be in his mid-thirties at least."  
  
"Age isn't a barrier. Besides, you're always telling me I act like an old woman," she chuckled.   
  
"Wonder if he's lecturing at our university or something. Professors are always weird."  
  
She turned back again and rested her head on her hand, and let her mind wander among the notes of the latest pop hit wafting from the local pub's stereo system, her thoughts touching briefly on her next essay for Women in Art, that thesis she needed to start researching, and... that strange man again. Her thoughts seemed to go round in a big circle and come back to him.   
  
"I wonder what he's teaching if he is," she thought aloud.  
  
Kris puckered his lips as he always did when he was deep in thought, some of his dark fringe flopping into one eye.   
  
"Don't you go getting ideas," he said, "You know what happens when a student - "  
  
She flapped at him, waving it off. "Yeah, I know."  
  
Kris put down his glass and eyeballed his long-time friend. He recognised that look on her face, he'd seen it so many times over the five years they'd known each other. She wanted a date, and she wanted it badly. Unfortunately, in all those five years, she'd never managed to get one, despite her efforts. Kris thought she was trying too hard. She thought she was doomed to be alone forever.  
  
"Alecia, I'm serious, OK? He's... weird."   
  
Alecia met his dark look with hazel eyes. She smiled. Always acting like the big brother, trying to look out for me, she thought. Here I am, a grown woman doing my Masters, and he's standing there behind the bar and telling me not to talk to strangers. She almost giggled at the thought. She couldn't hide the barely-suppressed smile on her face, though.   
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"Nothing... I appreciate the thought, Kris. Really."   
  
There had been so many times he had kept her feet very firmly on the ground. It was a comforting thing to have; even if he could irritate the hell out of her once in a while. She picked up her books and her bag, and slid off the stool.   
  
"Going home early?"   
  
"Yeah. Need to get some work done, and I have to pick up some milk at the corner shop before it closes. See you tomorrow."   
  
Kris slung his barman's towel over his shoulder, and nodded. Alecia quickly reached over the bar and managed to ruffle his hair. Kris flicked the towel at her. She darted away, laughing, and danced out of the exit as she passed the strange man's table, her long skirts brushing the floor.   
  
Kris didn't see the man suddenly look up from the table and frown at the young woman's retreating back, then continue to frown, perplexed, at the opposite wall. A few moments later, he got up from the table and left the pub.   
  
It was several minutes before Kris noticed the man was gone. He checked his watch. It was only 5:30pm.   
  
He suddenly wished he had gotten Alecia that mobile phone for Christmas after all.  
  
-------  
  
He followed her at a safe distance through the streets of Dublin, safe enough so he could see where she was going, but not close enough that she would notice him if she decided to turn around. As soon as he had determined her place of residence, he made a quick mental note of the street name and the number, and then disappeared into the night, satisfied.  
  
------  
  
"Kris, you're paranoid. Paranoid," Alecia sighed, as she took her place at the bar again the next evening.   
  
"I keep telling you, you need a mobile, and you won't get one. How do we know he - " he nodded to the man, who was again present in O'Neill's, "- isn't some sort of psycho scoping you out?"  
  
"In that getup? He won't get far, will he? Psychos are supposed to blend in, not stand out like sore thumbs."  
  
Kris said nothing, but rubbed the glasses with a newfound vigour, which she didn't fail to notice.  
  
"I can take care of myself, Kris, remember those classes I took?" She smiled at him.   
"Besides, I'm sure it was just a coincidence that he left not long after me."  
  
An audible sigh. "Just be careful tonight."  
  
Alecia nodded, and dared to glance across at the man once more. He was staring off to one side, but she was almost certain he'd been looking right at her. Maybe Kris was right. Or maybe his paranoia was starting to rub off on her. Either way, she needed to get moving, and get to the library before it closed.   
  
  
She was wary tonight, watching for shadows in doorways, furtive figures following her footsteps, anything that might be construed as suspicious, as the strangely clothed man in the pub. She didn't actually see him, though, and relaxed a little as she reached the campus limits and passed through the Nassau Street entrance, then up to Lecky Library, with its bright fluorescent lighting spilling unceremoniously but welcomingly onto the tarmac. Hopping quickly up the steps, she pushed open the door and made herself scarce amongst the Dewey Decimal System.  
  
He sat on a bench across the street for a few minutes, and then pulled a fob watch out of his brocade waistcoat pocket. He glanced at it briefly, then replaced it as he got up and ran across the road, where a green and yellow bus had just pulled up at the curb.  
  
------- 


	2. Origins, Part 2

Origins, Part 2  
  
  
"Are the test subjects ready?"  
"Yes. They were exposed to the control virus thirty minutes ago."  
"Excellent. Prepare to release the mutagen in ten minutes."  
"Right away, ma'am."  
  
-------  
  
Alecia flopped onto the sofa once she got home, her books and bag dumped unceremoniously into a heap on the living room floor. Two hours and ten minutes later, she had left the library with four books, a pile of photocopies and a lot less change in her pockets. Her fears about being followed had almost dissipated; after burying her head in texts for a couple of hours, it had given her back some grasp of rationale again.   
  
Her roommate, Jayne, was still out, presumably with her boyfriend Steve, and would probably be out until the early hours. She sighed, taking in the eerie stillness of the room, without even a ticking clock to mark the passage of time, then pondered what to do for dinner. What she wouldn't give to have dinner with someone else for a change. Having dinner with Kris was fun, but Kris was like a big brother to her. It wasn't the same as... well... you know. *Having dinner*.   
  
She headed out to the boxy kitchen, her mind wandering. Glancing at the cheap kitty calendar on the fridge, she mentally reminded herself of her modelling assignment tomorrow. Every Thursday morning she did life modelling for an art class of undergraduates at the College. It was just something she did on the side to help pay the bills, and it paid well - very well. It had sounded scary at first, but she'd managed to overcome her fears and in some strange way had begun looking forward to it.  
  
It was then she realised that at the age of 28, she had no life.   
  
"Oh, God!" she moaned aloud to the empty kitchen. "I need a change... something... a holiday..."   
  
Alecia sank down at the tiny breakfast table, and buried her head in her hands.   
  
Someone knocked on the door, startling her out of her sudden depression. Jumping up from the table, and banging her knee in the process, Alecia hobbled down the hallway and peered through the peephole. Who could it be? It wouldn't be Kris, his shift at the bar didn't finish until eleven. She couldn't see anyone. Frowning, she put the chain on the door and peered into the encroaching darkness outside.   
  
"Hullo." A face suddenly popped into view.   
  
Alecia screamed, and slammed the door shut. Gasping for breath, she chided herself thoroughly for her utterly predictable reaction, and then peered out of the peephole again to confirm her suspicions.   
  
It was *him!* That man from the pub! She shivered. She contemplated calling Kris, or the police, or both. He knocked again. She yelled at the door.  
  
"Go away! I don't know who you are or what you want but leave me alone!"  
  
He replied, in a muffled Scouse-English accent, "I'm sorry, I just really needed to talk to you - "  
  
"Really? Then what's with all the stalking? What's wrong with the regular approach, you know, lame chat-up line, that sort of thing?"  
  
"I'm really sorry, please open the door, I didn't mean to scare you..."  
  
"No. I don't know you."  
  
"But I think I know you... or at least, I did... I'm not sure."  
  
Alecia's fright began to turn to curiosity. Gingerly she opened the door, still on its chain. The man looked at her, earnestly, his intense blue eyes boring into hers. Damn, he's cute, she thought again.   
  
"Why do you think you know me?" she enquired tentatively.  
  
She took in his fashion again. The same things he'd been wearing the day before, and the day before that, as far as she could tell. That brown velvet frock coat, beige trousers, brocade waistcoat and grey silk cravat... he looked like he should be working at the Oscar Wilde Centre at Trinity College.  
  
"I don't know, I just have this feeling... I have to speak with you."  
  
"That has got to be the worst bloody chat-up line I have ever heard," she retorted. He looked nonplussed. Alecia realised he had no idea what she meant.   
  
"I'm the Doctor."  
  
"Just 'the Doctor'?"  
  
He nodded, brown curls bobbing. Allrighty then, she thought. A lunatic with a god complex.   
"I'll make dinner, if you like."  
  
Alecia blinked. How did he know she hadn't had dinner yet? Or was it an educated guess?   
She weighed up her options. She could let the cute loony come in and make her dinner, or she tell him to bloody well bugger off and leave her alone and... well... make dinner and eat it by herself. Again.   
  
*Guess which wins, Kris or no paranoid Kris*, she thought, and took the chain off the door to let him in. His entire face seemed to illuminate as she opened the door, and he suddenly embraced her in a bear hug as he passed over the threshold. Alecia stiffened, reflexively, but relaxed when she realised he wasn't going to hurt her - he was genuinely overjoyed at her decision!  
  
"Thank you!" he beamed, as he pulled away from her.   
  
"Um... you're welcome, I suppose... now, about that - "  
  
He was already halfway down the hallway to the kitchen, frock coat tails swinging behind him as he went. Now it was her turn to look nonplussed, as she shut the door and followed him.  
  
The Doctor, as he liked to be called, was reaching into a cabinet over the microwave as she entered. She sat down at the small table near the back door, and watched him, a vortex of frenetic energy, as he set about making dinner. *Oh my gods*, she thought, he really meant it. *He's making dinner*. Now she had to add 'astounded' to her list of turbulent feelings. She tried to get a hold of her voice, which had, it seemed, gone on holiday with the rest of her mind, and managed to ask him if he was teaching at Trinity College.   
  
"Hmm?" He straightened up from his search beneath the sink, "Oh, no. I'm... a traveller, I suppose you could call me. I do all sorts of things."  
  
"I see..." she replied, as he brandished a cast-iron frying pan around his head as he spoke. She found herself hoping he didn't knock himself out with it. "So, you're alone, then?"  
  
He stopped dead, suddenly.   
  
Alecia's fear, which had retreated momentarily, chose that moment to jump back up into her throat, fighting for space with her oesophagus. He stayed there, still, unmoving. She wondered if she should choose now to run, but found herself unable to coordinate her legs and her brain. Instead she sat at the small wooden table, and bit her lip anxiously.  
  
"Yes..." he said, slowly, after a few moments, which felt like years. "Yes, I suppose I am."   
  
And then he was moving again, fetching milk from the fridge. Alecia allowed herself a sigh of relief. Whoever he was, he seemed to change so rapidly from one emotional state to another... maybe he was a psycho, after all...   
  
"Your milk's off."  
  
Alecia looked up from her scrutiny of the wood grain into the Doctor's face, and a hand which was waving a three-quarters empty plastic carton of semi-skimmed.   
  
"Oh... er... I went and got some yesterday... should be in here somewhere..."  
  
And she was on her feet and moving to the fridge, retrieving the new carton from behind a container of Sunny Delight, before her brain could kick into gear. She straightened, turned around and -   
  
- He was standing right there behind her. She found herself breaking his eye contact, and handing the milk off to him as she tried to slow her heart rate, which must be going through the roof, she realised.   
  
"Thank you," he grinned; a lopsided grin that could melt ice at fifty paces.  
  
"Er... no problem," she managed.  
  
She wobbled back to the chair, and sank down, and cursed herself for not taking the chance. *Idiot. First man to show any kind of interest in you in six years and you're screwing it up*. Psycho or not, he was too cute to let get away - even a one night stand was starting to appeal at this point.   
  
Whatever he was cooking smelled good. She didn't even know where half the ingredients had materialised from, as she looked at the containers scattered along the kitchen counter. He'd removed his frock coat, and hung it on a hook on the back of the kitchen door. With his shirtsleeves rolled up, he looked like some wild maestro conducting an orchestra of egg noodles. She giggled. He looked over his shoulder at her.   
  
"What?" he asked, a half smile across his face.   
  
"I've never had a man make me dinner before. Well, apart from my dad, but I don't count him."  
  
Another grin, that took away her defenses faster than Windows '98 could crash.   
  
"There's a first time for everything. Ah-hah!" he cried, snapping the controls on the stove off, and whirling back around with a steaming saucepan, which he carried to the sink and emptied into a colander.   
  
"You do this often?" Alecia asked, fascinated. "Make dinner for lonely single women, I mean."  
  
"Once or twice," he replied, busy with a second saucepan.   
  
Her heart sank somewhat, as if this bizarre experience had been cheapened by that fact. She sagged a little, and leaned her elbows on the table. A plate of fettuccine alfredo arrived under her nose, startling her out of her reverie. He sat down opposite her. Alecia frowned.   
  
"Aren't you going to have any?" she asked, not seeing a second plate.  
  
"I'm all right," he answered, "I'm not hungry right now."  
  
Uncomfortable with the idea of eating in front of him, Alecia put down her fork, despite the wonderful smell, and tried to get to the bottom of why he was here.  
  
"Why do you need to talk to me?"  
  
The Doctor perked up, and leaned forward, his hands clasped together.  
  
"I think I know you. That I've seen you somewhere before."  
  
"I remember that bit. Is that the sole reason you're here?"  
  
His face fell.   
  
"I was hoping that you might be able to help me... help me remember who I am."   
  
*Whoa, Nellie. Remember?*  
  
"Hold on - you don't remember who you are? You told me you were the Doctor."  
  
"I had an... accident, I think. I've lost a lot of my memories. I can remember things from time to time... I get flashes of scenes, of faces, but I can't put a name to them. When I saw you, I hoped you might be able to help me with remembering why I know you."  
  
Alecia looked at him. An amnesiac? She sighed.  
  
"I can honestly say I don't remember ever meeting you before, unless you count the pub," she replied. She felt her heart break for him as she watched his face crumple. "I... I'm sorry... really..."   
  
"No, no, it's all right. I was hoping for too much, as usual. I just felt so certain that we knew each other before..."   
  
His gaze wandered off into the middle distance, distraught. Her gut twisted. It was like being responsible for taking away a child's favourite toy.   
  
Alecia looked down at her plate. Her stomach rumbled. She picked up the fork.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe it's one of those past life things," she shrugged, "You know. Maybe we were, like, married or something." *Nice one, hotshot. You should have just TOLD him you were desperate!*  
  
He began to look hopeful again, as his gaze settled back on her.  
  
"Yes... yes, maybe that's it. Do you believe in reincarnation, then?"  
  
"I haven't seen any evidence to prove one way or the other, not yet." She dared a mouthful of the fettuccine. Damn, it was good. "Gosh, this is good. Why don't you try some?" she asked.   
  
He nodded, and made to go and get a fork, but she stopped him.  
  
"Here."  
  
Alecia twirled some of the noodles around her fork, and fed the mouthful to him. He sat back and chewed for a moment. She suddenly felt very self-conscious.   
  
"Not bad," he said, and beamed at her.   
  
In what she felt later to be a fit of utter stupidity, she used that moment to lean over the small table and kiss him.   
  
He didn't respond as she'd expected - he seemed surprised, almost tense. She pulled away, and sat back awkwardly, not daring to make eye contact. She felt like she'd transgressed some sort of unwritten law. Silence ruled for a few moments. When she finally looked up again, she saw he was looking intently at her, an unreadable expression on his face.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said, feeling about two inches tall under his gaze.   
  
"Nonono, don't apologise," he said.   
  
Alecia got up to take her plate to the counter. He got up too, and followed her across the kitchen. She turned around to find him standing there again.   
  
"Do that again," he said.   
  
"What?"  
  
"Do it again."  
  
So she did.  
  
"What happens now?" he asked. Alecia couldn't quite believe her ears.   
  
"I'll show you," she replied, and, taking his hand, led him upstairs.  
  
  
----- 


	3. Origins, Pt 3

Part 3  
  
  
- Hurting abandoned exile lonely  
She gasped, her eyes widening. His gaze was boring into her, and -   
- wanting needing alone wandering wanting home remember  
She felt the emotions tumble through her mind, images fluidly chasing sounds. It was like she had lost control of her thoughts, and it was scaring her -   
- different always different never the same loving hurting pain help me remember please I don't want to hurt anymore -   
She clutched at the Doctor, suddenly realising - somehow - that it was him, that he was doing this, his sad blue eyes still gazing into hers, and the pain of loss that was overwhelming her very soul -   
She blacked out.  
  
-------  
  
Alecia woke Thursday morning to an empty bed.   
  
"Gods dammit!" she cursed, flinging a pillow across the room.   
  
She remembered blacking out, for some reason; he must have taken his opportunity to leave then. He was gone; his clothes, his shoes... not even his cravat pin remained. She contemplated bursting into tears, but then decided it would be ridiculously counter-productive. It was her fault. She'd let him in, she'd taken advantage of him and she seriously expected him to stay?   
  
"I am such a bloody fool."   
  
She sighed, chiding her naïveté. For someone who prided herself on her common sense, she certainly hadn't used any of it last night. Not even used any kind of protection.   
Thank gods for the Pill, she thought. She'd never forgotten protection before.   
  
"Hey, Alecia? Are you alive in there?"   
  
Alecia panicked for a moment, then realised she had nothing to hide; he'd already gone.   
  
"Uh - yeah, I'm fine, Jayne."  
  
Alecia grabbed her dressing gown, and pulled it on as she opened the door. Her friend and roommate, Jayne, was standing there, a hot mug of tea in her hand, a glimmer of mischief on her round face.   
  
"You had someone over last night," Jayne said, grinning as she handed the steaming tea to her. Alecia looked dumbfounded.   
  
"Er... how did you know?"  
  
"He was leaving as I got in about an hour ago. Funny outfit, was he on his way to a rehearsal or something?"  
  
"I... don't know."  
  
Now it was Jayne's turn to be dumbfounded.   
  
"Are you telling me that the great, sensible Alecia Connell just had a one night stand?"  
Alecia glared at her over the rim of the teacup. Jayne decided to ignore it.   
  
"Was he good?" she prompted.   
  
"Did he say anything to you before he left?" she asked, trying to change the subject.  
  
"Yeah - he said to tell you he was sorry and that he'd do the washing up next time."   
  
"Next time? Ooooooh!" Alecia stormed back into her room and sat down at her dresser. Jayne looked puzzled as she followed her in.   
  
"What happened?"   
  
Alecia shook her head. "Never mind. It was my own fault. I don't even know his name."  
  
"You didn't even - Alecia, I'm impressed!"  
  
"He just said he was 'the Doctor', that he'd lost his memory."  
  
Jayne looked singularly unimpressed, then glanced at the digital clock beside Alecia's untidy bed.   
  
"Um - don't you have something arranged on Thursdays?"  
  
"Yes, why?"  
  
"It's eleven."  
  
"Eleven?" Alecia frowned, put down the mug - then gasped. "Argh! My assignment! I'll be late!"  
  
She jumped off her chair and started dashing around the room, picking up her discarded clothes as she went. Jayne shook her fair head and left her to get ready.   
  
  
------ 


	4. Origins, Pt 4

Origins, Part 4  
  
  
  
  
"Report."  
"Test subjects were dosed with the mutagen twelve hours ago. Three cases of adverse reactions reported so far. The others seem to be resisting."  
"Interesting. Call Dr Mathers and update him on our progress."  
  
-------  
  
It was a very crumpled Alecia Connell who arrived at the art class. Mumbling her excuses to the attendees, she headed to the small back room and undressed, wrapping a bathrobe around herself until she was in position. Tucking her bag and books underneath a shelf, she left the room and headed to the podium, upon which sat a chaise longue.   
She looked around for the lecturer, who was normally present to direct her position. He wasn't there.   
  
Seeing her baffled look, one of the students piped up, "He's not gotten here yet - I think he might be sick."  
  
She nodded.   
  
"I expect we'll just go with what feels good, then," she replied, and took off the bathrobe, arranging herself on the chaise longue in a position she felt relatively comfortable holding for about twenty minutes. The students, half-hidden behind their boards, began working.   
  
The door opened and closed behind her. Being a consummate professional, she didn't move to see who it was. Some of the students, she noticed, exchanged confused looks. There was a sign on the blacked-out window of the door that there was a life-drawing class going on, to prevent people walking in accidentally.   
  
"Sorry I'm late," a man's voice drifted over the classroom. "I'm the temporary stand-in for Mr. McKinley. Carry on."  
  
Alecia sighed, as the students settled back down to their work. She heard the scuff of shoes on the hard floor as the stand-in walked around the room, lowered voices discussing each student's progress. He eventually came into her field of vision as he moved around the room. Her heart stopped.   
  
It was the Doctor.  
  
He saw her at almost precisely the same instant, and she registered the surprise on his aristocratic face as he froze. Alecia suddenly felt incredibly over-exposed; ashamed, even, and tried her best to remain composed, but seconds later she found herself running from the podium, into the small room. She began plucking her clothes from the pile, pulling them over her head with an amazing speed, and, grabbing her bag and books, ran out, past him and the bewildered class, into the hallway.   
  
The Doctor told his students to attempt to finish their pictures, before yanking open the door and giving chase. It wasn't hard for him to catch up; she was still trying to get her shoes on. Hearing his footsteps, she tried to break into a run, but loaded down with her books and her bag, she didn't get far. He reached out, took her arm gently, and spun her round.   
  
"Alecia."  
  
"What do you want? Haven't I made enough of a fool of myself? You walked out on me this morning and I fully expected never to see you again, yet here you are, bright as a new penny, taking the sodding art class that I'm modelling for!"  
  
"I had no idea, Alecia, I'm sorry. I - "  
  
"You're sorry that I managed to run into you again?"  
  
The Doctor looked confused. "No... I wanted to apologise to you for last night. I did something very wrong, and I hurt you."  
  
Alecia blinked. "You didn't hurt me, I - "  
  
"Yes, I did. I pushed too far. I shouldn't have tried a mental link like that, it could have been dangerous for both of us."  
  
"Mental link?"   
  
She peered at him. He was deadly serious. Then she remembered, the images that had flashed through her mind, just before she'd -   
  
"You made me black out?" A nod. Alecia's skepticism called a halt. "That's not possible."  
  
"I did. I wanted to be just a little closer to you, just for an instant... " he sighed. He wanted to tell her, tell her that it wasn't the contact that had caused her blackout, but his running into a 'brick wall' in her mind that wasn't supposed to be there. But he couldn't, not until he knew for sure himself, so went on with his white lie. "I presumed too much. You humans have such a long way to go before you're capable of - "  
  
"Hold it right there. 'You humans'?" Alecia's mental alarm bells started going off. One part of her brain was crowing, 'I was right, see, he really is nuts!' and the other part was yelling, 'Run, run now!'   
  
"I'm not like you," he said, finally, the statement seeming to take the life from his eyes. "I'm not like anyone."  
  
He suddenly seemed so lost, so vulnerable, that Alecia felt like she should be giving him a hug, not beating on him for last night.   
  
"Why do you feel that way?" she ventured.   
  
He responded by taking the books from her and setting them down on the floor. Then, taking her hands, gently, he slipped them beneath his waistcoat, to the soft linen shirt, clasping them one on either side of his chest. A few moments passed, as she felt his heartbeat, allowing herself the small luxury of enjoying the contact. Then -   
  
"Oh!"  
  
He'd expected her to pull away, but instead she pressed her head to him to listen, first one side, then the other. When she finally did pull back, her face wore an expression of amazement and fascination.  
  
"You have two hearts!" she whispered. He nodded. She grinned. "That is so cool!"  
  
The Doctor's face broke into an amazed smile.   
  
"It is?"   
  
"Yes, it is!" she laughed.   
  
" 'Cool'," he repeated, chuckling. "Am I forgiven?"  
  
Alecia stopped laughing, and looked up at him.   
  
"I... I don't know." She picked up her books. The laughter was gone, replaced by awkwardness once more.   
  
"Alecia, please - "  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't see you again."  
  
She was already walking away, trying to avoid his gaze, knowing that if she met it she would be helpless.   
  
"Why not?" he called after her.   
  
His only answer was the main door slamming shut.  
  
------ 


	5. Origins, Pt 5

Origins, Part 5  
  
  
  
  
It was several hours after the fact that she realised he'd called her by name. She didn't recall ever telling him what it was. She shivered as she entered the small Dublin pub, and set her books down on the bar.   
  
"What's up, little sis? You look like you did something really wrong," teased Kris as he made his way over to her.  
  
Alecia looked at him, a haunted expression in her eyes. Kris' face turned deadly serious. He knew something was up.  
  
"What happened?" he asked.  
  
She tried to find the words to explain it, but couldn't find them and instead just came right out with it.  
  
"I slept with him last night."   
  
Kris almost dropped the pint he was drawing, spilling some of the beverage on his hands. Cursing under his breath, he wiped himself off and finished drawing the beer, and managed to hand it off to the customer before hissing at her, "You did what?"  
  
"With him. That strange guy. He calls himself the Doctor."  
  
She saw the look on his face. "I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me, I just... he just... well... it happened."  
  
He buried his face in his hands. Alecia felt so ashamed of herself, the more she tried to justify it, the less the whole thing seemed real.  
  
"He's very sweet, if a little weird, but I told him I couldn't see him again."  
  
"Why?"  
  
She told him. Kris drew a hand over his face. "Oh, well done. You did use - " he lowered his voice, " - protection?"  
  
She didn't have to answer him. The look was enough. He threw his bar towel across the bar in anger.   
  
"Kris, I'm all right, I'm on the Pill - "  
  
"That's not a hundred per cent!" he replied, obviously exasperated. He wanted her to have a relationship, but her sudden lack of responsibility was worrying him.  
Alecia sighed, and let her gaze wander across the bar. It settled on the newspaper Kris had been reading, as he did when things were slow.   
  
'New outbreak of meningitis reported at Irish college', read the headline. She frowned, and reached over to pull it towards her. Kris saw what she was doing.   
  
"Haven't you heard yet? Two cases were taken into hospital this morning. College says it's going to give everyone jabs."  
  
She was vaguely aware of the various other outbreaks that had made the national news recently, but this made it more real, more dangerous. As she read the report, she learned that the strain, meningococcal septicemia, was the worst of the two types to be infected with. More worryingly, this was the strain reportedly diagnosed at the College.   
It wasn't her day.   
  
"When are they administering the jabs?" she asked. Kris seemed to be up on everything news-wise at the campus; maybe it was part of his CGI course.   
  
"Friday afternoon, in the main hall. Stupid place to do it if you ask me, all those people in a confined space, breathing in the same air. I'll bet there'll be a few more cases before the weekend's out."  
  
"Oh, joy, now I'll have to confine myself to my room for the weekend," she grumbled aloud, realising that that was what she was going to do anyway to write her essay.  
  
"Well, there's a small gathering of the Arthurian society Friday night, if you want to come," he offered. He knew she needed a break. She smiled at him.   
  
"Sounds like fun. What time?"  
  
"Meeting here at eight. I get off early," he grinned.  
  
"Done," she replied, sliding off the stool again and picking up her things.   
  
"Alecia," he called, as she turned to head out the door.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"No talking to strange men now, you hear?"  
  
"Yes, Dad," she teased, poking her tongue out at him.   
  
--------- 


	6. Origins, Pt 6

Origins, Part 6  
  
  
  
"Do you have the DNA sequences back yet?"  
"We are missing one - I have someone on it right now."  
"One?"  
"Yes, one. The subject moved before we could take a sample."  
A sigh.   
"Very well. I expect to have it by tomorrow morning, do you understand?"  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
--------  
  
Climbing into bed late Friday night, Alecia tried to stop her head from spinning. She blamed the whisky mixers. The Arthurian lot really knew how to host a drinking session, she reflected, and made a note to meet up with them again the next time she needed to drink a problem into oblivion. She lay in bed for a while, trying to figure out how to get to sleep when every time she closed her eyes the world spun around yet again. After about ten minutes, she gave up and turned the light back on, and waited for the world to stop.  
  
She woke at an ungodly hour of the next morning to a frantic knocking on her bedroom door. Groaning at the headache of gargantuan proportions that had now made its presence felt, she stumbled across the room, bleary-eyed, and opened the door.   
  
"What is it?"   
  
"It's that cute guy at the door for you. Says it's very urgent."   
  
Jayne looked almost equally bleary-eyed, she must have had an all-nighter too. "Caught him throwing pebbles at my window." She smiled suddenly. "And I thought he was a one-nighter. Lucky you."   
  
"Yeah... whatever," Alecia replied, distractedly. "Thanks. I'll get right down there."  
  
Jayne nodded, yawning. Alecia threw on a dressing gown, and went to the front door, not without some trepidation. What did he want now? She looked out of the peephole again, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. He was standing there, practically hopping from foot to foot, chewing his bottom lip agitatedly. She frowned, and opened the door.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked. "I told you - "  
  
He shook his head, dismissing her question.   
  
"Alecia, you have to get dressed. Now."  
  
Her brow creased again. "Why?"  
  
"Please. It's very urgent."  
  
She folded her arms. "I'm not doing anything until you tell me what this is about."  
  
He looked at her earnestly, eyes shining.   
  
"It's Kris," he said softly. "He's been taken in."  
  
Alecia's world came to a very abrupt halt. She felt the cold grip of fear twist her gut. No. Not Kris.   
  
"I'll be right back down," she said shortly, letting him come in. Numbly, she hauled herself back up the stairs and dressed on autopilot, brushed her hair briefly, grabbed her keys and ran back down as Jayne emerged from her room again.   
  
"What's going on?" she asked.  
  
"It's Kris - he's been taken into hospital. I have to go," she called back over her shoulder.  
  
She didn't wait for an answer as the Doctor took her hand in a firm grip, his face grim, and led her out of the front door into the Dublin morning.  
  
  
------ 


	7. Origins, Pt 7

Origins, Part 7  
  
  
As they sat on the small bus that bounced along the city roads, Alecia chewed her nails, something she hadn't done in years. The Doctor sat beside her, his concern apparent, but his physical contact at a minimum.   
  
"How did you know about Kris?" she asked suddenly, realising the two of them had never met directly.   
  
"I heard about it in the pub," he said absently, shrugging. He seemed a million miles away. Alecia tried to ignore the strange looks from the other passengers at the Doctor's bizarre dress sense, and focused her attention inwards again.   
  
"The pub doesn't open until eleven. It's only just that now," she muttered at him.  
He didn't answer her. Somehow she wasn't surprised. Glancing out of the window, she saw the grim façade of the hospital looming closer.   
He was already up, standing at the doors to disembark. Alecia got up, trying not to fall flat on her face, and followed him as the bus lurched to a stop.   
  
---------  
  
The Doctor took control of the situation as they approached the reception desk of the large hospital. Alecia just let him, as the smell of bleach and antiseptic assaulted her nostrils. She tried not to let the puke-green décor affect her already flip-flopping stomach, and folded her arms tighter around herself. The receptionist glanced up from a computer screen.   
  
"May I help you?"  
  
The Doctor flashed her a smile. "Doctor James Bowman, from London. I've been called in to assist with the meningitis outbreak."  
  
The pretty blonde receptionist looked confused.  
  
"I wasn't informed of - "  
  
"No, it was very last-minute. I just flew in this morning. Dr. Adams requested I look at his latest patient. I believe his name is Kris Haines."  
  
Alecia didn't believe she'd fall for it for an instant.   
  
"May I ask who this is?"   
  
Another smile. "This is my personal assistant, Mrs. Connell. She accompanies me everywhere."  
  
Alecia raised an eyebrow at him, but he was oblivious. What a bloody flirt, she thought, as he charmed two ID tags from the bewildered receptionist. She suddenly felt cheap, used. He handed her tag to her and began walking towards the lifts. She smiled tightly at the receptionist, turned on her heel and chased after him, her sandals squeaking on the tiled floors.   
  
"You do this sort of thing often, I see," she muttered, as they waited for a lift.   
  
"Let's just say it's an acquired skill," he replied. "There was no way they would have let you in to see him just yet, you're not immediate family."  
  
Alecia had to concur, even if she didn't quite agree with his methods. The lift doors finally opened, and an orderly wheeled a young girl in a wheelchair out, her left leg in a plaster cast. She grinned and waved at the pair. Alecia smiled back, the Doctor waggling his fingers at her in a wave as the doors shut again. He pressed the button for the third floor, and tapped his foot impatiently as the lift creaked up the shaft. Alecia stared at the gunmetal walls, through them, her stomach churning. The Doctor noticed Alecia's worried expression as he glanced at her.   
  
"I doubt they've made a definite diagnosis yet. He may just have a bout of the 'flu," he said, hopefully.   
  
The doors opened, and they were off again, down another corridor, a sharp left, then another left, past brightly lit wards and an X-ray lab.   
  
"Just what are you a Doctor of, anyway?" she asked, wondering in the back of her mind just how he knew where Kris was.   
  
"I looked at the board," came the absent reply. Alecia frowned at his back. "Here, I think..."   
  
They turned right, and entered a rather more dimly lit ward. The Doctor counted down the cubicles, then stopped.   
  
"Kris!" Alecia gasped, and ran to give him a hug. Kris was sitting in the bed, looking utterly miserable.  
  
"What took you so long?" he prodded.   
  
Alecia poked her tongue out at him. "You're lucky I'm here at all. When were you admitted?"  
  
"I walked in this morning - I figured I'd better play safe. Looks like I did the right thing."  
  
Alecia looked closer, and saw the red blotches on his arms, that looked like a rash.   
  
"Oh my gods..."   
  
"Have they taken spinal fluid yet?" the Doctor asked, picking up the clipboard from the end of the bed. Kris suddenly realised who Alecia's companion was. He glared at him. Alecia saw his hostile expression and tried to calm him down.  
  
"Kris, he got me in here to see you. In fact, he was the one who told me you were here."  
  
Kris seemed only partially reassured as he sank back into the pillows. The Doctor was scrutinising the clipboard, flipping the pages to read the scrawled handwriting. His brow furrowed. Alecia hoped a real doctor wouldn't come along and discover their transgression. Still, her curiosity got the better of her, and she moved to see what he was looking at.  
  
"How can you read that writing?" she asked, unable to make head or tail of it. The pages were covered with abbreviations, notes and numbers.   
  
"Practice," he replied, cryptically. "Kris, did they perform a spinal tap yet?"  
  
Kris nodded. The Doctor flipped the pages again. He looked concerned. Alecia didn't like it one bit.   
  
"A spinal tap?"   
  
"Yes. It's essential to sample the spinal fluid in order to diagnose meningitis in either form, viral or bacterial. They should have notated it on here right away."  
  
Alecia shrugged. "Maybe they just forgot."   
  
The Doctor didn't look convinced. "How long ago was that, Kris?"  
  
"I'd say about an hour, maybe longer. Time dilates when you're in hospital," he joked. The Doctor nodded slowly, lost in thought.  
  
"I have a hunch. I'll be right back," he said to Alecia.   
  
"Where are you going?" *Probably going to disappear on you again.*  
  
"To look at some more clipboards," he answered, and wandered off along the ward.  
  
Alecia shook her dark head.   
  
"I don't get him," she said, finally, sinking down on a plastic chair beside Kris' bed.  
  
"That's not what I heard," Kris teased. Alecia flushed, her cheeks turning scarlet.   
  
"Stop it."  
  
Kris grinned. "I'm glad you're here, though. It's no fun being poked and prodded."  
  
She agreed, remembering the time she'd been brought in with suspected appendicitis. She'd had tests, ultrasound, x-rays even, and they'd turned up nothing. They'd never managed to figure out what it was. She'd hated the IV most of all, the needle irritating her skin, feeling it every time she moved. She heard the Doctor's voice, low and soft, a few cubicles away. She wondered what he was up to. Perhaps he was just nosey by nature.  
  
He returned shortly, pulling the curtains closed. His expression was severe.   
  
"I have a bad feeling about this," he said, seeing Alecia's enquiring glance. He beckoned for Alecia to follow him outside. Giving Kris a quick squeeze, she did so. The Doctor was standing in the brightly lit corridor, suddenly looking much older than his perceived years.  
  
"What's going on?"   
  
"There's something very wrong. I don't know precisely what it is, but something is very wrong. I asked each of the other patients brought in if they had had a spinal tap performed on them, all responded in the affirmative, yet there is no notation on any of their charts."  
  
"You're a bit paranoid, aren't you? It's easy to forget - "  
  
"No, Alecia. You don't forget. All of these spinal taps were performed at the same time. Which means that it was planned. Which means there should have been a notation." He frowned again. "I need a sample."   
  
"Sample? Wait a minute, you can't go around prodding people - "  
  
"No, I need to find the laboratory they were taken to. I just need a small amount."  
And he was off down the corridors, bold as brass, intent on finding this precious sample.   
  
"Doctor...!"  
  
Alecia stood there for a moment, trying to fathom what the hell was going on. He stopped at the end of the corridor and turned to look at her. Some part of her rational mind told her that she should stay with Kris. But the rest of her wanted, bizarrely, to go with the Doctor, to see just how he intended to procure a sample from a laboratory... to be part of something exciting.   
  
Something different.  
  
She took a last glance at Kris' ward, then ran to catch up with the Doctor.  
  
  
----- 


	8. Origins, Pt 8

Origins, Part 8  
  
  
  
"Are all the samples in?"  
  
"Yes, Doctor. Tests show increased resistance to treatment."   
  
"The colleges are responding as we expected again, I see. Excellent."  
  
"We should be able to culture our first super strain within two weeks."  
  
"Perfect. Dr. Mathers will be here shortly to pick up the latest cultures. Make sure they are ready for him when he arrives."  
  
---------  
  
The Doctor had managed to use his effortless charisma to find, and then subsequently bluff his way into, the on-site laboratory, astounding Alecia once again. He winked at her as he disappeared into the labyrinth of sterile equipment, leaving her to wait near the entrance. She sighed, shaking her head. How does he do it? she wondered. It was like he did this for a living, day in, day out, charming receptionists, making dinner for single women...   
  
"Did you miss me?"   
  
Alecia was startled out of her reverie. She refocused on a grey silk cravat. Blinking, she came back to what senses she still had, and looked up at him. His blue eyes twinkled. She guessed he'd managed to find his sample.   
  
"Now what?"   
  
"Now we find an empty lab so I can run some tests of my own before they miss the sample," he replied, and they were off again. Alecia didn't bother to ask how he'd managed it.   
  
-------  
  
"I *cannot* believe you did that."  
  
"It was necessary," came the short reply.   
  
The two of them were in the required empty laboratory. Alecia wondered how long she could get for breaking and entering, even if he had managed to open the lock with some sort of metal cylindrical device, which left no trace of forced entry. He was now moving swiftly around the laboratory, looking right at home amongst the organised chaos of Bunsen burners, test tubes and conical flasks. He seemed to be a completely different person to the one she had met on her doorstep two nights ago. Now even his personality seemed different... alien, even.   
  
She watched him collect various items from the cupboards, stopping once in a while as if trying to remember exactly what he was looking for. He suddenly realised something and turned to face her.   
  
"Put down the blinds, would you. I don't want anyone interrupting," he said, pointing to the Venetian blinds that looked out onto the corridor. Alecia found herself obeying, wondering why she hadn't thought of that in the first place.   
  
"What are you going to do with the sample?" she asked, wandering over to the bench where he was now sitting.   
  
He looked up at her, spinal fluid sample in hand. She tried not to giggle. He was wearing the required plastic goggles and had found sterile gloves, but it looked so anachronistic on him with that outfit she was having a hard time keeping the stupid grin off her face.   
  
"Watch and learn," he replied, then looked at the battery of chemicals assembled in front of him. He suddenly seemed doubtful, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do next. Then he pointed across the room. "Find me an agar plate and a slide, would you?"   
  
"Agar plate?" Alecia looked blank. Her chemistry knowledge amounted to knowing the difference between a pipette (which he was now holding), a conical flask and a Bunsen burner. That was about it. The Doctor sighed. Alecia looked exasperated. He seemed to assume that she knew everything and upon finding out she didn't, it frustrated him. He turned to her.   
  
"That cabinet over there," he gestured towards a cabinet at the far end of the room, "should have some agar plates and slides in there. Now what I need is a prepared chocolate agar plate. Yes, it does look like chocolate. The slide needs to be clean, though."  
  
Alecia nodded and returned after a few moments with the items.   
  
"Excellent. Thank you," he said, beaming at her, and he meant it.   
  
She shook her head and sat as close as she dared without fearing she might knock over the Bunsen burner. His face took on a new expression, of intense concentration. He took the slide, rinsed it with ethyl alcohol, and taking a pipette, smeared some of the sample onto it. She watched as he quickly passed the slide three times through the flame of the Bunsen burner, "To fix it," he elaborated, seeing her interest.   
  
His fingers worked the multiple steps quickly and easily, like he'd been doing this for years. Alecia watched him rinse, flood, dry (by blowing on it, not the way you were supposed to do it, he said, but it would have to do), decolourise, counterstain... and finally, after about ten minutes of this, the Doctor removed his goggles and carried the finished slide over to a microscope.   
  
Alecia jumped up from her stool, trying to get life back into her numb buttocks, and stood beside him. He was making some rapid adjustments to the microscope, fiddling with knobs and buttons. He squinted into the lens, frowned, then looked again, harder, fiddling some more.   
  
"Something wrong?"   
  
The Doctor's jaw was set as he looked up from the microscope, then dashed back over to the bench to prepare the agar plate. Alecia chanced a look, but it told her nothing. The little squiggly things were, well, being little squiggly things. He returned with the sealed plate in his hand.   
  
"This needs time for the culture to grow, but I need a faster confirmation... the lens on this doesn't give me the magnification I need..." he trailed off, thinking, then an idea hit him. "Do you by any chance know where to find an electron microscope?"  
  
Alecia went to shake her head, then recalled - "The College has one! At the Panoz Institute!" She remembered seeing the news articles when it was purchased. The Doctor carefully placed the plate and the slide into his frock coat pocket, and discarded the gloves.  
  
"We have to get there. Now."  
  
  
---- 


	9. Origins, Pt 9

Origins, Part 9  
  
  
  
"Dr. Cole! One of the critical samples has gone missing!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's disappeared from the laboratory."  
  
"It can't have disappeared, you idiot. Someone stole it. Who was there in the last three hours?"  
  
A pause. Some swift paper rustling, quickfire questions over a phone.  
  
"Reception says the only unexpected visitor was a Dr. James Bowman. He arrived at the hospital with his PA a little while ago."  
  
"Find him. Do whatever is necessary, but bring that culture back unharmed."  
  
Another pause.  
  
"What do you classify as necessary, ma'am?"  
  
"Whatever is necessary to retrieve the sample and retain the classified nature of this project. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
---------  
  
Alecia had never really felt much affection for the Panoz Institute, with its blocky concrete, steel and glass architecture and imposing presence. It looked like it would be more at home as part of a governmental complex than on a college campus. She couldn't help but be intimidated by it, then, as she and the Doctor approached the stocky building; as if she wasn't already nervous about this whole thing.   
  
Another receptionist, another charade, she thought, as they entered. The Doctor didn't seem to be in the mood for pussy-footing around this time however, and asked the young lady directly where the lab containing the electron microscope was located.   
  
"Sir, I'm sorry, but you must produce identification in order to book time on that equipment. It's available only to lecturers and qualified scientists - "  
  
The Doctor looked at her. He was all business and no charm this time. Alecia felt glad she wasn't on the receiving end for a change; his gaze was ice-cold, his tone measured, intense.  
  
"This is a matter of possibly international importance. I am a close friend and colleague of Dr. Logan here at the College. I'm sure he will be *more* than happy to allow you to interrupt his conference in Donegal to confirm who I am," he finished, with a mild sarcastic edge to his voice.   
  
The receptionist looked shocked.   
  
"No, of course not... I'll call to the lab right now."  
  
She picked up the phone and dialled an extension. Alecia tried her best to look like a PA, although in jeans, sandals and a T-shirt it wasn't easy. She wondered again how he managed to pull off stunts like this in that getup, and the phrase, 'Act like an authority and you'll be treated like one' popped into her head. Another tag was put into her hand, and she barely had time to affix the thing to her jeans before the Doctor left the reception area.   
  
--------  
  
  
"Target sighted. He has a female with him."  
  
"Identity?"  
  
"We're checking now. We think she may be an accomplice."  
  
"Find out where she lives. He may be staying with her."  
  
"Acknowledged."  
  
-------  
  
  
"I thought the term 'micro' meant small?"  
  
The Doctor flashed her a grin as he produced the slide and the plate from his pocket. The electron microscope was the main focal point of the lab; its huge lenses supported within a telescopic metal cylinder roughly five feet long and almost a foot in diameter at its widest point. Monitors and electrical units sat beside the microscope, outputting various displays ranging from images to field variances.  
  
"I take it you've never seen one of these before?" he asked, making some adjustments as he did so. Alecia responded in the negative.   
  
"There's a first time for everything," came the reply. "Here, hold these for a moment."  
  
He passed her the slide and the plate carefully. She looked at them, and decided she was none the wiser, as he moved around the large desk setup flicking switches and turning knobs. After a few moments, he made a minor sound of satisfaction and took the slide from her, sliding it under the microscope's discerning lens. An image appeared on one of the monitors. It was slightly blurred. He reached over and made some more adjustments, increased the magnification, and looked into the eyepiece.   
  
Alecia waited, the air conditioning in the lab forcing goosebumps to appear on her uncovered flesh. She shivered. A hand reached out to her suddenly, long fingers beckoning.  
  
"The plate," he said, his eyes not moving from the eyepiece.   
  
Alecia handed it off to him. More adjustments. His eyes narrowed as he pulled back, uttering a word she could only assume was a curse. He reached across the desk and froze the image on the monitor.   
  
"What did you find?" she asked.  
  
His expression was grim as he turned to face her.  
  
"Alecia... you are looking at potentially the most fatal strain of meningitis in the world."   
  
Seeing her confusion, he elaborated, "and it's man-made."  
  
Shocked, Alecia looked again at the unassuming image on the monitor.  
  
"Why would someone do something like this?"  
  
His answer was simple, blunt, and bitter.  
  
"Biological warfare."  
  
-------- 


	10. Origins, Pt 10

Origins, Part 10  
  
  
  
"Targets leaving building."  
  
"Identity of female established as Alecia Connell, student at the College."  
  
"They must be going to her residence. Follow and take down."  
  
"Understood."  
  
--------  
  
"Doctor, why are we going back to my place? Surely we should be informing the authorities about this?"  
  
Alecia felt herself getting out of breath as she struggled to keep up with the Doctor's longer stride. He shook his head, never breaking pace once, not even seeming out of breath.  
  
"Alecia, this kind of thing goes on well above the heads of authority. By the time they get here, the people responsible will have covered their tracks, the deaths recorded as 'collateral damage' and the strain cultivated for sale to whatever country bids the highest."  
  
She tried to take this in. Just a couple of days ago she'd been a student at the College, now she was stuck in the middle of a sick experiment.   
  
"Why are we getting involved, anyway?" she asked.   
  
She instantly regretted the question, as he halted and turned on his heel suddenly to face her.   
  
"Alecia, lives are at stake here! Not just Kris's, but yours and probably hundreds upon thousands of others, maybe millions if someone were ever tempted to let this thing loose. We have to stop this, right now, right here."  
  
She nodded, slowly, in acknowledgement, and they continued walking. He told her as they walked that she needed to get some clothes together; that they were probably being followed, and that whoever was responsible would resort to desperate measures to retrieve the samples.   
  
Alecia fumbled her keys as they reached the doorstep, her nerves starting to get the better of her. The Doctor took the keys from her, gently, and opened the door.   
  
"Whose sample was that?" she asked, as they went into the kitchen.   
  
He went quiet for a moment, and set about making some tea.   
  
"Whose?" she demanded, staring at his back.   
  
His shoulders sagged. Alecia panicked.   
  
"No! Not Kris!"  
  
"I'm sorry," he said, helplessly.   
  
Alecia sank into the chair at the table, not sure whether she should throw up, scream, or both. Silence reigned for several minutes.  
  
"Tell me," she said, finally. The Doctor looked at her. "Tell me exactly how they're doing this."  
  
-----------  
  
"Targets have entered residence, repeat, targets have entered residence."  
  
"Acknowledged. Wait for my signal. Approach from the back."  
  
----------  
  
"I've been studying all the outbreaks I could get my hands on," the Doctor began, "That's why I was late for the Art class that morning - and why I left before you woke. A thought struck me and I had to follow it up."  
  
Alecia nodded, slowly, her hands clasped around the tea mug as though her life depended on it.  
  
"From what I've garnered, it seems they've been introducing a weakening virus into the air in high-traffic areas at universities around the world - untraceable, you see, because it's carried in the air. So at the same time as an outbreak of meningitis, there is also a higher incidence of colds and 'flu symptoms."  
  
"And of course, the guinea pigs being students, nobody thinks anything of it because of the halls of residence, and the close contact students have with each other there, which is usually the first thing to be blamed." Kris' words came back to her as she said it. "All those people in a confined space, breathing the same air..."  
  
"Precisely. And the universities start an intensive program of jabs - which works against them in the long term, and is no real guarantee against infection. It does however work for these people who are creating the super bacteria. They select a few unsuspecting 'guinea pigs', and expose them and some control groups to the bacteria... then wait. It's only a matter of time, with a weakened immune system."  
  
"Oh gods... and they're taking samples and improving the strain each time!"  
  
The Doctor nodded.   
  
"The global nature of this experiment leads me to suspect a large corporation rather than a governmental arm. It's about money, after all, and what government would sell off their greatest weapon to a potential enemy?"  
  
"So what can we do? And what will happen to Kris?"  
  
"In a matter of hours, Kris is going to become a living carrier for the most dangerous bacterial form of meningitis known to man. It will have a one hundred per cent fatality rate. If he is carrying that superbug inside him, they will be able to take their samples from him, he will die, and they will then propagate it artificially. Which leaves us two options."  
  
Alecia almost didn't want to know, but he carried on anyway. "We have to find Kris and cure him before it evolves far enough, and destroy the lab they're using to create it... or... "  
  
"Or... Kris has to die."   
  
  
----- 


	11. Origins, Pt 11

Origins, Part 11  
  
  
The Doctor heard a muffled noise, and moved from Alecia's side to the kitchen window over the sink. Carefully he moved a curtain aside with a finger, and cautioned a glance outside.   
  
"Alecia," he said quietly, "Get your things. Now."  
  
Wiping her tears from her face, she got up from the table and moved to the kitchen door.   
  
In a split-second, all hell broke loose as the back door window shattered into a million pieces, and a black-gloved hand shot through the jagged hole to open the door. Alecia screamed, the Doctor in the same instant reaching across to pull her behind him, his other hand reaching for the nearest solid object to use as a weapon. His fingers found a slender, solid handle in the kitchen sink, and his grip tightened around it as he picked it up. He moved them both quickly behind the door as it opened, then swung the weapon around with a blinding speed to connect with the perpetrator's head.   
  
The cast-iron frying pan made a satisfying dull ringing noise as it hit home, and the intruder was sent sprawling back out the door.   
  
"I'll never be able to use that again!" Alecia gasped, as the Doctor realised what he'd used. He shot her an apologetic look, then heard the footsteps above them. Casting the frying pan aside ("Come on!"), he pulled her along with him down the hall, and towards the front door.   
  
Another henchman was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs, as he pulled a gun on the two. The Doctor stopped just inches from him, and raised his hands, palms outwards, making sure he was firmly shielding Alecia.  
  
"I have what you want. The samples." He gestured to Alecia. She dug into his pocket and handed the agar plate to him, with his hands still upraised. "See it? This is what your boss wants. And I expect whoever it is told you to get it back unharmed."  
  
The Doctor could see he was paid muscle, and made an educated gamble. If it didn't pay off, they'd both be dead.   
  
"Give me the slide and the plate. Now."  
  
"No."  
  
The Doctor's frank reply confused the gunman.   
  
"No?"  
  
"No. I'm not going to give it to you. In fact, I'm going to break the plate right here. What do you think will happen if I do?"  
  
"I'll shoot you."  
  
"I don't think so. Why not? Because this plate I'm holding contains a lethal bacteria that is airborne and highly deadly to humans. If I smash this, I could either let it free on the population of Dublin, or it will be destroyed. Either way, it'll be bad news for your boss."  
  
"You wouldn't do something that stupid."  
  
"Oh no? I'm not like you. I'm not human. It won't affect me. Why should I care either way?"  
  
"You're insane," muttered the gunman.   
  
Alecia tended to agree with him. Not human? She thought back, frantically, through the last couple of days. Two hearts could be a rare but possible condition.   
But what about his colder body temperature; the blackout he'd caused, his bizarre mood swings, his lightning reflexes... ?  
  
She found herself edging back from the Doctor just a little as she realised these things, and wanted them not to be true. Wanted none of these events to have happened.   
  
"Now... tell me where their laboratory is and I'll let you have the sample."  
  
"You're wasting my time. I'll just shoot you and take it."  
  
The sound of a gun being cocked.   
  
"How sure can you be that this won't create an epidemic of Biblical proportions?" replied the Doctor, calm as you like. "That you won't die from it instantly, being right at the epicentre?"  
  
The man's gaze faltered. That was all he needed. The Doctor lunged forward, and twisted the man's arm, forcing the gun to drop. He caught it before it hit the floor, and shoved his adversary against the wall. The man grunted in pain, and tried to struggle, but the more he did so, the more painful the Doctor's grip became, and he gave up after a few moments.   
  
"That's better," said the Doctor, and put the safety back on the gun before handing it off to Alecia, who held it gingerly, unsure what to do with it. "Now. Where's the laboratory and who sent you?"  
  
"I don't know anything! I'm just hired to do their dirty work!"  
  
The Doctor sighed.  
  
"I thought as much. How did you get here?"  
  
"In a van."  
  
"Where is it?"  
  
"Parked down the street."  
  
The Doctor tutted.   
  
"Double yellow lines at that end. Better hope you don't have a ticket," he said, and then rendered the man unconscious with a touch. Alecia gaped as the man slumped to the floor. The Doctor looked at her, and reached out for the gun. She looked back at him, into that alien face, and hesitated.   
  
"Alecia, the gun," he prompted.  
  
"Who are you?"   
  
His blue eyes bored into hers.   
  
"Someone who cares. Give me the gun."  
  
She began backing away from him, uncertain.   
  
"Please, Alecia. Trust me. I'm not the enemy here. I've been honest with you from the start. I want to help. Please, just trust me."  
  
Much as she hated to admit he was right, well, he was. She surrendered the weapon to him. He quickly removed the ammunition from it, and stepped over the unconscious man to the front door, tossing the now harmless gun aside. Turning to her, he held out his hand.   
  
"Are you coming? I won't think any less of you if you don't."  
  
Alecia took a deep breath, and straightened her crumpled blue T-shirt, a determined expression setting on her face.   
  
"I have to do this. For Kris."  
  
He smiled, and nodded, as she took his hand, and opened the door.  
  
"Besides," he added, a little sheepishly, "I can't remember how to drive."  
  
------ 


	12. Origins, Pt 12

Origins, Part 12  
  
  
Alecia drove, the Doctor giving directions. The two unconscious men had been tied up and loaded into the back of the beige van, and occasionally a head or limb would knock against the side and make a dull 'thunk'. It would have been amusing if she hadn't been so preoccupied.  
  
"He said he didn't know where the lab was. Where are we going?"  
  
"To my TARDIS. I have some equipment there I can use to triangulate the location from radio emissions."  
  
Alecia's brain wasn't sure where to start with that one. It leapt from asking what the hell a TARDIS was to how the heck he could find a secret lab using radio waves. In the end, she just shook her head and concentrated on driving.   
  
"Left here," he said.   
  
Alecia frowned as she made the tight squeeze down an alley and around the back of a row of houses. "There," he pointed. Alecia blinked. In front of them sat a blue box the size of a large wardrobe. Its legend read, 'POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX'. She stopped the van. Things were just getting weirder and weirder.   
  
The Doctor jumped out of the cab and headed towards the box. She shrugged and got out as well, and reached the box as he fished an odd looking object from his pocket.   
  
"Ah!" he said, and inserted the shield-shaped thing into the keyhole. A quick turn, the door opened, and the Doctor was inside.   
  
"Er..." Alecia began, then lost the words.  
  
He popped his head back out.   
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Uh... nothing, except for the fact that you're walking into a cupboard."  
  
He smirked.   
  
"Humour me," he said.   
  
So she did.  
  
------  
  
"Report."  
  
"Our agents have not reported in on their status."  
  
"We have to assume they've been overcome. I gave you a simple task - to find this Dr. Bowman and retrieve our samples. I will not tolerate any more cock-ups. Understand?"  
  
"Ma'am."  
  
--------  
  
Alecia had always wondered what Alice had felt like in Wonderland. Now she had some sort of inkling, and it was making her rather giddy.  
"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked, steadying her as she swayed.   
She looked at him, her face a bizarre combination of several expressions, varying from amazement to disbelief to denial.   
"I'll be OK - I suppose... after I manage to wrap my brain around this concept of... what did you call it again?"  
"Transdimensional physics."  
"Riiiight."  
Satisfied she wouldn't fall over, he moved away to go and rummage in a far corner of the console room. Alecia walked slowly to the central column, running a hand along the wooden console. She felt the vibrant energy flowing through it, the warmth that denoted a living machine.   
Well, you wished for something different, and you got it. Now you have to deal with it, she thought. She took several deep breaths as she watched the Doctor sitting amongst a pile of junk, throwing various parts over one shoulder. Maybe, just maybe, I'll wake up and this will all be a bad dream. Yeah, that's it. And Kris will be fine, and this whole thing will go away...   
"Gotcha!"  
The exclamation brought her out of her reverie. The Doctor was walking back to the console with a gadget, which he proceeded to wire into the control panel. Alecia realised after a few moments that this was the only place he didn't seem to stick out like a sore thumb. The Gothic décor, the Jules Verne gadgetry, suited him. Belonged with him. In a time-space machine called a TARDIS.  
Good gods, Alecia, you slept with an alien. What will you do for an encore?   
"Pass me the sonic screwdriver, would you?"   
"Hmm?"  
"The silver cylinder-shaped thing next to your left hand."  
Alecia looked down, and saw the object he was asking for. She picked it up, its metal surface impossibly warm, and passed it to him.   
"Thank you," he said, beaming at her with that devastating smile again.  
"Don't mention it," she murmured, wondering if she really was losing her grasp on reality-dot-com.   
More fiddling. He produced an earpiece from one of the henchmen from his pocket (When did he lift that? she wondered), and hooked it up to the gadget. Lights blinked, static crackled. A few minutes, and...  
"Yes!"  
The Doctor grabbed a pen and started writing on his hand. Alecia looked baffled; surely with all this gadgetry the man had a piece of paper somewhere? He stopped his frantic scribbling just long enough to yank a lever. The doors they had entered through opened, and once again they were off. 


	13. Origins, Pt 13

Origins, Part 13  
  
  
"Where are we going now?" Alecia asked as they pulled back out of the alley.   
  
"The hospital. It's imperative we cure the patients, including Kris, before they get their critical - and final - samples from them."  
  
"Cure? You're a medical doctor?"   
  
"I'm a doctor of many things," came the cryptic response. He flashed a mischievous grin at her, "I hope you're not squeamish. You're going to have to help me."  
  
Alecia shot him a look as she dodged the evening traffic.   
  
"Please tell me you're kidding."  
  
-------  
  
Alecia grimaced as she saw the lineup of syringes the Doctor had laid out on a sterile tray. The appropriated triage room was brightly lit to the point of eyestrain with the white walls. The Doctor had removed his frock coat once more, and was rolling up a shirtsleeve.   
  
"What are we doing, exactly?"  
  
"Taking blood."   
  
"How is taking blood... er, I assume yours... going to help Kris?"  
  
The Doctor glanced up from squinting at his arm, presumably looking for a good vein.  
  
"I told you. I'm not like you. Don't ask me what I am - but I took a blood sample from myself once and found some very useful elements to it. One of those elements is what's going to save these people."  
  
He sat on the triage bed, rubber tie in hand. He proceeded to knot it round his arm with practiced skill as he continued, "I have these tiny robots in my bloodstream - I suppose you could call them nanites. They perform tasks that they're programmed to - I can program these to seek out and destroy the bacteria responsible."  
  
He used his teeth to help pull the knot tight just above the crook of his elbow, then looked at Alecia, a frown forming on his face.  
  
"You were with Kris Friday night, weren't you?"  
  
"Yes. Why?"  
  
"You may have been exposed to the bacteria." He rummaged in a pocket with his free hand, and produced a blister packet. "Here. Take these."  
  
She took the packet from him, and read the label. "Rifampicin?"  
  
"It should be adequate." He turned back to the tray and picked up the IV needle. "Here. I need your help with this."  
  
Wincing, she took the needle from his long fingers, and, under his guidance, managed to insert it into the now swollen vein. His blood at first look didn't seem any different from human blood, she thought. No wonder she was in denial. Aliens weren't supposed to be good-looking men with bizarre fashion senses, dammit.   
  
She was taking the eighth syringe-full when he started to sway. Alarmed, she stopped drawing to look at him. He waved her on.   
  
"Finish it," he muttered, with effort.   
  
Nodding, she did so, and put the syringe aside. When she turned around to check on him, he was flat on his back on the bed.   
  
"Uh-oh."  
  
Alecia quickly withdrew the needle as she yanked the tie off his arm, the rubber making a sharp snapping noise, and slapped a plaster on the wound. "Are you all right?" she asked, leaning over him.   
  
One pale blue eye opened, and looked up at her.   
  
"I'll be fine," he smiled, "Just a little light-headed."   
  
Alecia resisted the urge to slap him, trying to concentrate on the task in hand. Satisfied, she moved away and got a cup of water from the sink to take the Rifampicin. After a minute or two, the Doctor sat up again, slowly, and began gathering the syringes together.   
  
"Are there any side-effects to this stuff?" she asked casually, wondering if it was like a course of antibiotics. He shrugged as he fidgeted with his shirtsleeve.  
  
"It'll probably make your urine a funny colour for a couple of days. It has a tendency to interfere with oral contraceptives as well."  
  
Alecia almost choked on her tablet. The Doctor looked at her over his shoulder.  
  
"Are you - "  
  
"I'm fine, it just went down the wrong way," she lied, coughing.   
  
He buttoned his cuff up and slid his frock coat back on, completely unaware of the total panic erupting inside Alecia's head. Turning the light off and opening the door a crack, he checked nobody was passing by, then took her hand and led her back to Kris' ward.  
  
  
---- 


	14. Origins, Pt 14

Origins, Part 14  
  
  
"Second team reports in: No sign of the targets at the residence. First team is nowhere to be found."  
  
"They must have been eliminated. Dr. Cole and myself will go to the hospital and make sure they haven't interfered with our subjects. If the second team finds them, kill them and dispose of the bodies. I'm tired of this. Our samples will survive."  
  
--------  
  
Alecia could see how pale and drawn Kris looked, even in the dim lighting of the ward. Her recent panic subsided somewhat as she sat beside his sleeping form, and held his hand gently. The Doctor had sent the nurse on watch on a wild goose chase, and was busy introducing his reprogrammed nanites into the other patients. After a few minutes, he came back into the cubicle, and made sure the curtains were drawn.   
  
"How is he?" he asked softly.  
  
"I don't know. He seems peaceful, but... he looks so fragile... like anything could happen to him."  
  
He stood next to her, and put an arm around her shoulders.   
  
"It'll be all right," he whispered, and, with a reassuring wink, he moved to Kris' side and injected the contents of the syringe into him. "A matter of maybe an hour, tops, and the bacteria will be wiped from his system. The doctors will be confounded, but what's a little miracle cure when it comes to saving lives?"  
  
"Can we stay here until it takes effect?" she asked.  
  
The Doctor was about to emphasise the urgent need to get to the laboratory and wipe out the remaining cultures, but saw her face, and relented. He nodded. Alecia sank back into the chair and began sobbing quietly. He moved to kneel in front of her in the small cubicle. She wiped her tears away roughly with the back of her hand, feeling suddenly very self-conscious. Looking up, she met his gentle face, his eyes full of concern.  
  
"It's all right, Alecia. You don't have to be brave on my account. You've been through an awful lot in the last couple of days."  
  
He held her hand while he spoke to her, his thumb tracing small circles on the back of her knuckles. The sensation was surprisingly soothing, and she went with it. Gently he kissed her forehead, and then drew her into a hug. She didn't resist, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in the soft warm brown velvet, letting his scent wash over her; the gentle blend of sandalwood and patchouli calming her frayed nerves.   
  
After several minutes, he realised she had drifted off. He gently disentangled himself and covered her with his coat, then went to check on the other patients' progress.  
  
He almost - almost - didn't hear them until it was too late. He was adjacent to Kris' cubicle, checking the pulse rate of the last of the seven other patients, letting Alecia sleep a little longer. His eyes widened suddenly as he caught the sound of lowered voices out in the corridor. He strained to hear the words, and made out a few snatches of conversation.  
  
"... come in here?"  
  
"Yes, about an hour ago... said I was needed by Dr. Cole."  
  
"When did you last check the patients?"  
  
That was all he needed to hear. Silently he slipped through the curtains into Kris' cubicle, and pulled his coat from Alecia. She stirred, mumbling. The Doctor shook her. She remained asleep.   
  
"Check every cubicle! They can't get away - they may kill our patients. Alert security."  
  
The Doctor tensed, and tried once more to shake Alecia awake. She barely opened her eyes before he yanked her bodily off the chair, seconds before the curtain to Kris' cubicle was pushed open.  
  
Two pairs of feet, one clad in women's shoes, one in loafers, entered the cubicle. Underneath Kris' bed, the Doctor and Alecia lay stock still, waiting to be discovered. Alecia, only just awake, had tried to ask him why he was lying on top of her, only to have a cool hand firmly clamped over her mouth accompanied by a hissed, "Quiet!"   
  
She frowned at him, but he was oblivious, listening to every sound from the man and woman in the cubicle.   
  
"They've been here."  
  
"What do we do?"  
  
"Pray we don't lose these patients. We need to block off all the exits, right now. They can't be allowed to leave."  
  
"Yes, Doctor."  
  
The feet left the cubicle, and continued down the ward and out into the corridor. The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief, letting his hand slide from Alecia's mouth. He motioned for her to slide out from underneath the bed, which she did, and as soon as he was free, he braved a peek between the disgustingly floral curtains.   
  
"All right. Come on," he said, and took her hand as they fled the ward.   
  
The two crept cautiously around the corridors, Alecia watching the rear, the Doctor checking every corner and door they passed. One or two tense moments passed in which they flattened themselves against a wall or into an alcove meant for a fire hose, while hospital security went by.   
  
"We'll never get out of here!" she hissed at him.   
  
"Yes, we will," he replied, in that matter-of-fact tone that annoyed the hell out of her. Darting across another corridor, he arrived in front of a door to what he suspected was a supplies room. Both took refuge inside, shutting the door just as two more hospital security guards wandered past.   
  
"Is there a light in here?" Alecia whispered.   
  
As if on cue, the single light bulb flicked to life, illuminating the metal shelving groaning with the weight of medical supplies. After some moments searching, the Doctor pulled out what looked like a white sheet.  
  
"Ah-ha!"  
  
"What...?"  
  
"Surgical gowns and caps. Here."  
  
He tossed her a gown, cap, gloves, visor, shoe covers and a mask, then moved to the doorway, pulling on his own disguise. He listened carefully, then risked opening the door long enough to reach out and slap the fire alarm button on the wall near the door.   
  
Alecia jumped, even as she realised it was his doing. They would be able to walk out of here, hopefully, unaccosted, as surgeons disturbed in prep. The Doctor waited a few minutes before taking her arm and walking calmly out of the room, and down the hall to the stairway.  
  
-------- 


	15. Origins, Pt 15

Origins, Part 15  
  
  
The laboratory was small and unassuming, unlike the Panoz Institute. The squat, two-storey building sat in the middle of suburban Dublin. Not somewhere you'd expect to find a top-secret conglomerate lab, but maybe that was why it was where it was. Alecia wondered for a moment if the Doctor's calculations were correct.   
  
"The best place to hide is in plain sight," murmured the Doctor. "Still, security will be tight. Pull up here."  
  
Alecia pulled the van into a spot behind the building. Its barbed wire fences extended a good fifty yards from the lab. They didn't want anyone getting in. Or out.  
  
"Now... help me with our friends in the back."  
  
Alecia assisted him in moving their would-be assailants from the back of the van. He lifted them into the front seats.  
  
"What are we doing?" she asked.   
  
"Creating a diversion so we can get in undetected."  
  
She glanced up ahead at the rear gates of the complex, and realised what he was going to do.   
  
"Won't they get hurt?" she indicated the two men slumped in the seats.   
  
The Doctor gave her an acid look. Alecia stood her ground. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Enough people have been hurt already."  
  
"Even these people?" he shot back, "who were ready to shoot you dead for an agar plate?"  
  
She broke his stare, and looked instead at his cravat pin. He reached out, and lifted her chin with a finger. He was smiling at her.  
  
"You're right," he said.   
  
He turned from her, reached across the man at the wheel and buckled his seatbelt, then went around to do the same with the other. They might get some scratches and perhaps a broken limb, but it was better than being flung out of the windshield on impact. He grinned across at her. Alecia felt relieved, and managed a smile in return.   
  
"Find me a large stone, or a brick," he said, as he returned to tie the steering wheel.   
  
Alecia scoured the surrounding area for a few minutes, and returned with a broken yellow brick. "Will this do?"  
  
"Perfect." he said. He started the van up, and tied the brick to the man's shoe. Carefully, he lifted the foot, placing it very precisely. Satisfied, he moved back. "Now... when I say go, we run to the other side of the complex and get in."  
  
She nodded, walking a few yards away to get a headstart; she knew he'd catch up easily. The Doctor took a moment, as if centering himself, then slammed the door of the van shut. With a roar and a kickback of dust and gravel, the vehicle lurched forward, careening towards the rear gates.   
  
Alecia took cover behind a privet hedge as the Doctor joined her, waiting just long enough to see the beige van crash through the cast-iron gates and towards the building. Alarms started going off, and as shouts echoed around the complex, the two left their vantage point and broke into a run.   
  
--------  
  
Alecia gasped for breath, lungs burning with the effort, as she hauled herself through the forced window to land unceremoniously in a heap on the floor. The Doctor helped her to stand.  
  
"Seems I picked a most fortuitous spot to break in," he murmured.   
  
They were in a small computer lab, PC's littering the perimeter of the room. The echoes of chaos, even though they were corridors away, rang throughout the building. He realised they did not have much time, and quickly brandished his sonic screwdriver at the security camera. A high-pitched squeal, and the camera began smoking.   
  
Satisfied, he pocketed the gadget, moved to one of the computers and booted it up. Alecia moved to keep an eye on the door; it gave her a chance to slow her heart rate back down. She glanced back over his shoulder as he muttered what she took to be a curse.   
  
"I don't have time for this kind of..." he hissed, and began hacking the system, long fingers punching the keys rapidly. Alecia was reminded of the time Kris had used a back door into the university system - not to do anything wrong, but just to show her he could do it. Kris...  
  
"He'll be fine, Alecia," the Doctor tossed over his shoulder, his slender fingers dancing over the keyboard. "In fact, he should be just about ready to go home by now...ah! There you are..."   
  
He produced a floppy disk from his seemingly bottomless pockets, and inserted it into the computer. A few keytaps, and the monitor began to pop up various alerts and warnings.  
  
Alecia glanced back again in time to see the results of his handiwork.   
  
"A virus?"  
  
The Doctor moved away from the computer, swiftly removing the floppy disk.   
  
"Fighting fire with fire, I suppose you could call it. I've just introduced a bug into their systems that will destroy the research utterly."   
  
Reaching back into his pockets, he came across the agar plate and the slide. He contemplated them for a moment, then smashed the items on the floor with a shocking violence that left Alecia stunned. After a moment's silence, she spoke.  
  
"Won't it - "  
  
"It's not matured enough yet. You'll be fine."  
  
He came to stand beside her at the door, looking out to check the corridor. "Only one thing left - the lab itself."  
  
He realised the commotion had abated somewhat, which concerned him. But he knew they couldn't remain in the computer room forever. He eased the door open, seeing nobody about, and stepped into the corridor.   
  
Then, he felt all-too-familiar sensation of a gun being pressed to his head.  
  
"Hold it right there."  
  
----- 


	16. Origins, Pt 16

Origins, Part 16  
  
  
The Doctor could not see the person - a woman, he had deduced from the voice - on the other end of the weapon. Whoever it was had pressed their body flat against the wall, out of his peripheral vision, and waited for them to come out.   
  
"You must be the meddling Dr. Bowman who stole my samples."  
  
"I suppose I am. You must be the one in charge of creating the superstrain. How very unpleasant to meet you."   
He tried to turn his head a touch to see her, but the gun pressed into his head a little harder.  
  
"The repulsion is mutual, Dr. Bowman. If indeed you are a doctor."  
  
"Why are you doing this? Why are you creating something that could wipe out millions? Your corporation is already a major supplier of vaccines, but if this thing is fatal, there'll be no business for you. I wonder if those in charge really know what you're up to, you and your band of lackeys - "  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"I've dealt with your kind before," he retorted, his tone full of contempt. "You're all the same. Money grabbing, insensitive bastards, wasting their talent and ingenuity on spreading death."  
  
"I already told you once. Don't make me kill you."  
  
"Oh, I doubt you would actually do that. I mean, if you really wanted to kill me, you would have done that as soon as I stepped out the door. No. I believe you want something from me."  
  
"Maybe. Walk."   
  
The gun came into his line of sight, and gestured to his right. Alecia felt the Doctor's arm around her shoulders. It didn't take away the danger, but it somehow made her feel safer.   
  
They were guided into another laboratory, much bigger than any of the previous labs Alecia and the Doctor had been in, full of complex equipment. As they entered, their captor shouted an order to one of the three other doctors, who ran over and locked the door behind them.   
  
The Doctor finally got a look at the gun-toting lunatic. She was no taller than Alecia, about five foot three, maybe, with blonde hair and hard, grey eyes.   
  
"Barricading yourself in?" he noted.   
  
The air was fraught with tension, with nervous energy. Alecia had an inkling of what was about to happen, but hoped desperately that she was wrong.  
  
"Your ultimate punishment. For witnessing our experiment, and ruining twenty years of research in just a matter of days. I congratulate you, Doctor Bowman. You're about to be responsible, posthumously, for all our deaths."  
  
"You're utterly insane!" Alecia declared, then wished she hadn't, as the woman glared at her, gun still in hand. The Doctor looked about at the equipment.   
  
"Ah, I see. A chemical explosion. Covering your tracks well." He looked at the woman. "Why do you have to end it this way?"  
  
"It was in the contract," came the frank reply. "Success, or, in the event of our discovery, a neatly arranged 'accident'. Your trick with the van will help explain the cause nicely, I think. And I have the satisfaction of knowing that even though my life's work is destroyed, I'll be taking you with me."  
  
Alecia felt the cold grip of fear entwining her gut.   
  
"Doctor..."   
  
The Doctor gripped her hand tightly.   
  
"Tie them up. Once this goes off, there'll be no identifying bodies anyway."  
  
Alecia whimpered, as she was roughly tied at her wrists and ankles, the Doctor likewise. He did not resist, but merely fixed his eyes on the woman.   
  
"So all these people," he gestured with his tied hands, "are part of the project?"  
  
She nodded. "Doctors Cole, Mathers, myself..." She turned her glare to the others, who looked at each other, doubt in their faces. "We all knew the risks when we took on this project! And now we must all pay the price!"  
  
"You blackmailed us into it!" yelped a dark-haired man, who had been identified to the Doctor and Alecia as Dr. Mathers. "And now you want us to die. I should have known better," he said, bitterly, "But either way, my career was ruined."  
  
The Doctor smirked.   
  
"Do I detect dissension in the ranks?"   
  
"Silence!"   
  
The Doctor was silent, but the smirk still played on his lips. Alecia wondered how he could be so calm, both of them trussed up like chickens awaiting the slaughter, while her heart pounded in her ears to the exclusion of all else, except the sound of impending death. It was like a taut string waiting to snap.   
  
"Time delayed, I suspect?" he nodded to the equipment.   
  
She eyed him warily, but realised he was going nowhere fast.   
  
"Yes. Two minutes from now."  
  
The Doctor nodded, sagely. Suddenly, there was a scuffle at the back of the room, garnering the Doctor's attention. One of the doctors was making a last-minute bid for freedom, running to the door, determined to break it open. Just as the Doctor was about to try and shed his bonds, a shot rang out. Alecia ducked, instinctively, closing her eyes.   
There was a sickening thud as the body hit the floor. The Doctor turned back to see the still-smoking gun in their captor's hand.   
  
"He always was an idiot," she muttered, distaste plain in her voice.   
  
A dangerous gleam appeared in her eyes as she met the Doctor's gaze. "And just so you don't get any ideas..."  
  
Another shot rang out.  
  
The Doctor had braced himself for the eventuality, but realised just as the gun fired that it wasn't aimed at him.  
  
*It wasn't aimed at him!*  
  
"Alecia!"  
  
It was too late, he knew. Alecia's hand gripped his arm, vice-like, as he whipped round to see her, her body crumpling, her eyes wide in alarm, pain registering on her face, blood spattered on her neck and face where the bullet had entered her shoulder.   
  
"Doctor...." she gasped, sliding to the floor.   
  
Horrified, he knelt beside her shivering form, trying to maintain a calm exterior as he assessed the damage. He couldn't help but feel he might be losing a possible key to his past, something precious that could end this interminable amnesia, losing something... someone... that he loved. He managed to ascertain, through a fogged mind unusually hampered by emotion, that the bullet had fortunately gone right through her, but the bleeding needed to be stopped, quickly. He applied pressure to her wound. More gunshots rang out.   
  
He didn't need to look up. He counted them. One, two. There were only two others in the room, including their captor. And the chemical incendiary was due to go off in about a minute and a half.   
  
"It hurts," Alecia shivered, as he struggled with his bonds.   
  
"I'm sorry," he replied.   
  
He berated himself for bringing her with him, but knew their instant priority was to get out of here, then get Alecia well. Focus, Doctor! he chided himself. Taking a deep breath, he focused his mind, and adjusted his bone structure ever so slightly. The twine making his bonds slipped enough for him to wriggle free.   
  
"Be strong, Alecia, just for a few minutes. I need to get us out of here. Stay with me, you hear?"  
  
She nodded, the pain threatening to overwhelm her into unconsciousness as he undid her bonds. He held her hand tightly, as if trying to give her some of his own strength. She felt it, like a jolt of electricity, travelling up her arm and into her body. She inhaled sharply as it flooded her veins. He smiled tightly at her, and moved swiftly from her side to the door. One minute, he thought, his mental clock ticking down. The sonic screwdriver hummed, the lock clicked, and he was scooping Alecia up carefully in his arms and running down the corridors to what he fervently hoped was the exit.   
  
She winced as he carried her, the jarring movements sending new waves of pain throughout her nervous system. At least it kept her from falling into unconsciousness, the comforting darkness of sleep that would be so warm and painless...  
  
"Alecia, stay with me!"   
  
She jerked awake again, and moaned as the resulting crest of agony traversed her body. The Doctor seemed worried, as he continued to run through the complex. Her hope began to dissipate. Surely it had been two minutes by now?   
  
He looked down at her, reading her thoughts again. He stopped, laid her down in a doorway, and covered her with his own body, a physical shield against -   
  
"I'm sorry," he said, again, his pale blue eyes sad, pained, his beautifully handsome face drawn tight in anguish.  
  
She forgave him, just as the world exploded.  
  
  
-------- 


	17. Origins, Pt 17 (final)

Origins, Part 17  
  
  
"...should be...."  
  
"Perhaps the medication..."  
  
"Maybe I.... some tea..."  
  
Alecia found herself floating up from the turgid waters of an unnatural sleep, her heart gladdened by the sounds of familiar voices around her, even if she couldn't tell what they were talking about. It meant she wasn't dead, at least. Her mind finally seemed to reconnect with her body, and she stirred, mumbling, as she opened her eyes.   
  
"Al! You're awake!"   
  
She blinked, adjusting to the light, and focused on -  
  
"Kris!" she croaked, trying to sit up and embrace the friend she had so nearly lost.  
  
"Hey, easy, tiger!"   
  
He pushed her back gently, into the hospital bed she now occupied. She acquiesced, and instead settled for sitting up. "Well, this is a reverse of positions," he teased.  
  
Alecia gave him a withering glance.   
  
"If it wasn't for the Doctor, you'd still be in hospital," she said.   
  
"What on earth do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.   
  
Alecia waved it off, too tired to deal with an explanation. "Here... let me go get you a cup of tea. You look like you could use the caffeine," he said, and, giving her hand a quick pat, got up and disappeared from the cubicle.  
  
Alecia felt suddenly very alone and vulnerable in the bed. The pain was gone, the superbug had been eradicated, and... the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. So who had Kris been talking to?  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Doctor!"  
  
He had poked his curly head around the curtain to her cubicle, a big grin on his face. He winked at her as he entered. She felt elated that he was back - as though his absence would leave an aching hole in her life. It sounded trite and silly, but she didn't want to be alone anymore, even if Kris was around.  
  
"I went to ask a nurse about waking you up, but it seems you managed that on your own."  
  
He made his way to her side, and picked up her hands, clasping them in his. Alecia again felt his cool, soft skin as it touched her own. She smiled at him.  
  
"So, it's all gone?"  
  
"Razed to the ground. Every last bit of it. Thank you."  
  
Alecia frowned at him. "Me? What for?"  
  
"For believing in me."  
  
She nodded, and noticed several rapidly-healing scratches on his face, probably from flying debris when the blast shook the building. Other than that he appeared unharmed, his blue eyes animated, dancing, as they gazed at her.   
  
"You won't leave, will you?" she asked, feeling silly as she said it, her cheeks reddening.   
  
"No," he answered, softly. "When I do, though, you're welcome to come with me."  
  
"Come with you? Where?"  
  
"I'm a traveller," he said. "I travel through time and space. I can go anywhere, anytime I please. And... I'm lonely."  
  
"I don't know that I - "  
  
He swung away, his arms flung out, encompassing the cubicle in a grand flourish, his childlike enthusiasm shining in his face.  
  
"We'll go see Leonardo, all the greats... visit art as it's being made, not hung behind glass in some museum collecting dust!" He looked at her again. "Would you like that? It'll be my apology to you for getting you in this mess."   
  
Alecia considered this.   
  
"I don't know, Doctor - I've got my studies to get on with..." she watched his face fall, and felt that internal panic that this strange man, this enigmatic, gorgeous alien would go away and never come back, swell in her stomach again. "But... I'd like that a lot."  
  
He beamed, eyes shining, and gave her a gentle hug.  
  
And silently, Alecia's fingers crossed themselves as her thoughts wandered to the pregnancy testing kit hiding in her closet at home...  
  
  
-----  
  
End 


End file.
